


Three half feral beasts

by MyLadyDay



Series: Dragons, love and other oddities [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Dragon AU, Dragons, Fantasy AU, First Meetings, M/M, a sky of glass au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 06:11:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12600008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyLadyDay/pseuds/MyLadyDay
Summary: It had to be a lot to deal with, and he did his best to focus on things he actually knew for sure. Like the fact that the dragons were especially loud on that day, for some reason or another. Ace had a gnawing feeling that a bird flew in again and worked the dragons up into a frenzy as they try to catch it. It astounded him that they seemed to forget they can fly too. Not that he really wanted the poor bird to get hunted by three bored and half feral beasts.





	Three half feral beasts

**Author's Note:**

> This is Ace's POV for the scene where they first meet in A sky of glass. 
> 
> Just getting back into the swing of writing by writing for nanowrimo ^^

The days were made of a routine he'd been following for a very long time, so long that he didn't even need to remind himself what had to be done first. Breakfast for the beasts first, then breakfast for him, and then...things. Assorted chores around the garden. Company, if he was lucky, but he hadn't been lucky in a while.

It was just him and the dragons. Almost like usual, but with one gaping hole in their little circle.

Ace was starting to worry, more and more with each day Edward failed to show up. The responsibilities of a king were nearly endless, and Ace knew that very well, but they had an unspoken arrangement that Edward wouldn't dare break. He'd visit before breakfast or after dinner nearly every day. Sometimes in the afternoon as well, just to bask in the sunlight, but those visits were becoming few and far inbetween.

They became something Ace treasured immensely, now that it became clear this was something he could actually lose. Despite Edward's age, Ace realized he'd never actually entertained the possibility of him simply not showing up one day. At least not until it happened, but Ace hadn't lost hope that Edward was just held up.

After all, there had been talk of skirmishes around the borders, and unrest to the south for a while now. It had to be a lot to deal with, and he did his best to focus on things he actually knew for sure.

Like the fact that the dragons were especially loud on that day, for some reason or another. Ace had a gnawing feeling that a bird flew in again and worked the dragons up into a frenzy as they try to catch it. It astounded him that they seemed to forget they can fly too. Not that he really wanted the poor bird to get hunted by three bored and half feral beasts.

Ace got out of the house, and hurried towards the commotion. Their curious screeching was easy to follow with how loud it was, making it impossible to hear any sound of a bird or any other unexpected visitor that could have sneaked in through the window panes. Lucky for him, this didn't happen too often. Unlucky for the dragons, they rarely had this kind of entertainment.

He could almost see them through the trees, near the stairs that led down to Edward's quarters. That alone was almost enough to make him run towards them, because they never went near those stairs unless Edward opened the creaky door and alerted them. Ace was nearly blindsided by the relief that washed over him, but he somehow managed to continue his walk at a more sedate pace. He wasn't that little boy anymore, the one that would run towards the stairs with the dragons as soon as the doors opened, and Edward's booming laughter filled every last crevice in the garden.

That was still the only sound loud enough to drown out the dragons and their excited screeching.

Just the thought of that brought a smile to Ace's face, just as he broke through the trees and into the clearing around the stairs. The smile dropped almost as soon as it appeared, when he laid eyes on the dragons first, and then on the person they surrounded. It most certainly wasn't Edward.

Ace could see a resemblance between Edward and this stranger, but it was almost fleeting, something he noticed at first glance, then failed to pinpoint when he took a closer look.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked before he could stop himself, and rein in some of the irrational anger he was feeling all of a sudden.

“Who the hell are _you_?” the man repeated, standing straight, the expression of fear on his face replaced by one of cold determination in a heartbeat. “No one but the king is allowed here.”

“So why are you here?” Ace asked, his voice sounding unimpressed even to his own ears. At least as much as he could hear through the rushing of blood, and the building panic.

“I _am_ the king,” the man said, voice hard and commanding, with far more authority than Edward ever used inside the garden. “And who are you?”

For the first time since they came face to face, Ace faltered, and the realization dawned on him. Edward was the king. Edward was supposed to be the king. There couldn't be two kings at once, Ace knew that much despite living with beasts for most of his life, and if this man wasn't lying then that meant his worst fear had come true.

“Does that mean Edward is,” he started, voice breaking when he said his name before clearing his throat to continue, “dead?”

He must have sounded just as lost as he felt, because the stranger dropped the cold exterior, his shoulders dropping in an instant and he immediately looked almost as lost as Ace was.

“Yes,” he replied simply, almost too quietly to be heard properly, but Ace could read the tone without a problem. Even if he wished he couldn't.

“You still haven’t said who you are and what the hell you’re doing here.” The stranger's voice grew in volume as he quickly changed the subject. It was an obvious deflection, an attempt at not pursuing the subject of Edward's death, and Ace found himself grateful for it. 

“I’m Ace,” he said, frowning to cover up the growing pain in his chest. “And I’ve lived here all my life.” 

He'd never actually said that out loud before, and he could hardly remember the last time he'd had to introduce himself to someone. It was almost startling enough to make him forget, at least for a moment, that Edward was gone. It was just for a moment though, before he remembered he had some manners.

"You must be Marco," he said before he could even think about it, putting an end to the stunned silence that had surrounded them.

It was glaringly obvious, now that he actually had a moment to connect the person before him who claimed to be king, with the only person it could have been. Ace had heard a lot about Marco through the years, almost nothing bad. Edward always got this particular look on his face when he'd talk about his only son, something warm and open that made Ace feel at home.

Marco looked startled though, even if he was trying to hide it, but he was clearly taken off guard by Ace knowing his name. Ace wasn't surprised, he knew Edward wouldn't talk about him to anyone. His existence was a secret as long as he lived in that garden.

That train of thought though made him think of what would happen to him and the dragons now. He didn't have the king's permission to live there anymore, not with Edward gone, and thinking about that just made Ace's chest hurt all over again.

Marco still stood there, shocked silent and eerily motionless, seemingly blind to the dragons that never took their eyes off of him. They'd gone quiet as soon as Ace appeared, but they hadn't left them. They may have been beasts most of the time, but they were still fiercely protective of Ace.

Before he could blink, or utter another word, Marco snapped out of it, and disappeared back down the stairs. The deadbolt was startlingly loud, but not really surprising, given the situation. After all, both of them were taken by surprise by this meeting.

The dragons had an easier time to adjust though, and they ran off into the trees as if nothing had happened. They had no clue as to how monumental this was, having another person in the garden, their home, like this. Ace hadn't been in touch with anyone but Edward ever since he'd come back from his all too brief venture into the outside world, which ended far too soon for his liking when he stumbled upon a dragon.

Honestly, the odds for that happening seemed impossible when he first went out of the garden, but it was just typical at that point.

Ace was still rooted in place, less out of shock now that Marco was gone, and more because of the pain that was catching up to him now that he was alone. He barely started processing the fact that Edward wasn't coming back, and that they hadn't even had a proper goodbye, but he was already feeling the loss more acutely than he thought was possible.

When all was said and done, Edward was like a father to him. He'd cared and did everything in his power to make Ace feel like he belonged, even through the most difficult years when Ace wanted to leave and be free. Nevermind that he could never be as free anywhere as he was in that garden, with Edward to lean on.

A feathery head bumped into his hand, with a chirp so familiar that Ace could tell it was Jay who came to offer some comfort. It was always Jay who sensed when he was down, the first to come and try to relieve the pain. Almost as if he were an extension of Ace's mother, warm and comforting and familiar even though he couldn't really remember her.

His fingers brushed against the soft feathers, and down Jay's beak, the motion repeating until Ace finally remembered how to breathe and walk and live. Well, the living was going to be step by step progress, but it would have to be enough.

The day had taken a turn he couldn't have expected, and Ace was embarrassingly unable to deal with it. He hadn't had many surprises in the years he'd spent up there, and it made him so unprepared for this. But the only person who would be able to help him was gone, and Ace couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this lost.

Jay nuzzled his hand again, before running off to some corner of the garden, and Ace was reminded that he still had a purpose. He had those three in his care, and all he had to do was hope Marco would come back, and then let them stay. The garden was their home, after all.

 

 


End file.
